1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a taping apparatus, and particularly relates to an apparatus in which a work piece, such as a bundle of elongated members, is peripherally wrapped by manipulating the taping apparatus relative to the work piece.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various constructions of apparatus have been devised for peripherally wrapping work pieces with flexible pressure sensitive tape. Such work pieces generally comprise a bundle of elongated strands or members which are to be bound together by the flexible tape. Common work pieces suitable for processing by such an apparatus are harnesses used in the electrical industry, particularly as disposed on harness boards. Other work pieces may be peripherally wrapped such as the ends of bags, cylindrical members or others. It is desirable to provide a taping apparatus which can quickly and efficiently wrap such work pieces. It is further desirable to provide a taping apparatus which can operate as a portable unit which can be hand operated for such taping procedures. It will be appreciated that a relatively light weight and compact unit would be highly desirable and, further, one which is rugged and of relatively simple construction.
It is accordingly one important object of the invention to provide a taping apparatus which can directly, quickly and simply wrap a work piece in an improved manner.
Another important object of the invention is a taping apparatus which is compact, portable and hand operated so that it may be used in an improved manner to peripherally wrap work pieces.
It is still another important object of the invention to provide a taping apparatus which is relatively compact and which can be hand manipulated in conjunction with a work piece which is delivered to the apparatus for quick and efficient wrapping by simple insertion, movement of the apparatus relative to the work piece, and withdrawal of the apparatus from the work piece.
Still another object of the invention is to provide such a manual taping apparatus which can apply a wide range of sizes and types of tape to a wide range of sizes and lengths of harnesses.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a manual taping tool which can engage to and disengage from any section of an electrical harness mounted on a jig board without requiring the harness to feed through the head of the tool or to be removed from the jig board.
A further object of the invention is to provide such a tool which can apply tape to an electrical harness at a range of different pitches, as desired.
Still a further object of the invention is to substantially eliminate vibration which can be caused by the eccentric motion between the tool and the harness due to the type of tapes used and the various harness sizes.
Yet a further object of the invention is to provide such a manual taping tool in which the tool handle is universal and can be applicable to either a right handed or a left handed operator.
Other features of the invention can also be related as follows:
No tape tensioner is required since the tension is created by a naturally resisting force between two opposite rotations. A tape roll needs to rotate in one direction to dispense tape. At the same time, the contact friction between the tape reel and the wire bundle introduces an opposite rotation.
No threading set up is required to change winding direction. For the present invention, a simple procedure requires an operator to rotate the tape roll through an arc of 180 degrees for proper adhesive orientation.
No vibration is generated from an eccentricity between an article to be taped and the rotation center of the taping tool of the invention which has an oscillator arm to provide a floating support to hold a tape roll during rotation. This construction also accommodates reduction of tape roll diameter as the tape is expended.
Other and further features, advantages, and benefits of the invention will become apparent in the following description taken in conjunction with the following drawings. It is to be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory but are not to be restrictive of the invention. The accompanying drawings which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this invention, illustrate one of the embodiments of the invention, and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention in general terms. Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the disclosure.